I-94 near Dearborn to Remain Closed After Rig Explosion

The tanker fire that closed I-94 Wednesday will leave a lingering headache for drivers.

But the troubles won't stop there.

Perhaps miraculously, no one was killed and only minor injuries were reported. But navigating through the Motor City could be a challenge for many for until at least next week because the eastbound lanes of I-94 will remain closed from the Southfield Freeway to I-96 through the weekend. Westbound lanes are open.

"It looks like it's much worse" than expected, said Diane Cross, a spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Transportation, describing the condition of the roadway near the Dearborn-Detroit border. Before the assessment was complete Wednesday, officials had been saying that 150 feet of roadway would need to be replaced.

And other roadwork efforts may also add to drivers' woes heading into the weekend.

MDOT is expected to start work on I-94 around Warren Avenue at some point over the next few days to repair old flooding damage, and the highway will be shut down for work connected to the M-1 Rail construction between the Lodge Freeway and I-75 from Friday night to Monday morning.

Left lane closures that began Wednesday and are expected to last until March 19 on I-75 in both directions at I-94 because of deteriorating concrete. Additional lane closures are likely during off-peak hours, Cross said.

But the focus for most of the day Wednesday was on the fireball that erupted late in the morning just west of Wyoming, sending plumes of thick black smoke that could be seen from Canada.

Arnold Mitchell, 49, of Toledo, Ohio, heard the explosion while at a truck yard next to the highway. He looked out to see a huge ball of fire.

"I thought the freeway was blowing up," he said. "The closer I started walking to it, then I'm like, 'Man, that's a truck down there.' "

He said a moment later he heard another explosion. He was about 450 feet away and said it felt like it was 1,000 degrees. The police arrived and told him to get farther away, he said.

Mitchell works as a truck driver and said he's always careful on the highways.

"I respect the other drivers around me," he said. "I don't just drive for myself; I drive for them, too. And I always leave myself a way out."

Alexander Guevara, 37, of Dearborn, had planned to use I-94 on Wednesday to get to work on Detroit's east side, where he's a construction contractor. Instead, he stopped to watch the fire from the Wyoming Avenue bridge over the closed interstate.

The fire burned more than an hour, and flames appeared to reach as high as 100 feet, he said.

"First, I seen it from my house which is at least three or four miles away, and it was big black smoke up in the air," Guevara said. "I thought maybe a house (was) on fire or something."

He said he saw multiple explosions.

Michigan State Police spokesman First Lt. Michael Shaw, who received the report of the fire and closure shortly before 11:30 a.m., said the agency is done with its on-scene investigation but that the State Police hasn't yet determined how the accident happened. It involved the tanker truck driver and two passenger vehicles.

Shaw said investigators late Wednesday had yet to determine which driver was at fault. Shaw said evidence on the scene conflicts with witness reports about how the accident occurred. The names of the drivers were not released Wednesday.

In addition, fire officials from Dearborn had to inspect the sewer system, which caught fire after fuel from the tanker leaked into it, Shaw said.

Cross watched as a firefighter or emergency worker who had been standing next to the tanker was given oxygen and placed on a gurney. She said 13,000 gallons of diesel fuel and gasoline had been in the tanker. An undetermined amount of that had leaked out, but Cross, who noted that the cleanup continues, said the fuel was stopped before it reached the Rouge River.

Doreece Nelson, 66, of Windsor, Ontario, said she saw a report of the fire on TV and walked onto her balcony, where she could see the smoke.

"That big tanker crash and the flames, we can see it in Canada," Nelson said as the fire burned. "It's really, really visible here."

Despite the dramatic scene, no evacuations were required, said Mary Laundroche, a spokeswoman for the City of Dearborn. However, the Western Wayne and Downriver hazardous materials teams were called in to assist, and the Marathon Oil Refinery in Detroit dispatched four firefighters and a special foam truck to help battle the blaze, according to refinery spokesman Jamal Kheiry. He did not know what material was involved in the blaze but said foam is typically used to fight a hyrdocarbon fire.

Detroit Metro Airport also dispatched a staff member as part of a mutual aid hazardous materials team, according to spokesman Michael Conway, who noted that the smoke did not disrupt air traffic in or out of the airport.

Deepak Bhalla, a professor of toxicology at Wayne State University, said the thick smoke was a sign of high levels of particulate pollution, small particles that particularly affect the lungs of children, the elderly and those already sick. The smaller the particles, the worse for public health, Bhalla said.

"Any particle that is higher than 10 micrometers in diameter doesn't get past the nose; it's not inhaleable," he said. "The small particles, known as PM 2.5, are the particles of concern. They reach deep into the lungs. Something like this fire is likely to release those particles."

Gases can attach to the small particles, Bhalla said.

Environmental quality authorities responded nearly immediately to the accident, along with State Police and transportation officials, said Brad Wurfel, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

There have been other fiery crashes in recent years on roadways.

In 2009, Hazel Park firefighters responded to a tanker explosion and fire that caused the 9 Mile overpass on northbound I-75 to collapse.

In 2003, Detroiters Latoris Shepherd and Michael Travis and Melvindale resident Cedric Redus rescued trucker Joel Puz from his burning rig on I-75 near Clark. The men pulled Puz from the truck, hoisted him onto their backs and hauled him up a grassy slope to safety. Moments later the tanker exploded into a fireball.

Staff writers Gina Damron, Keith Matheny, and Robin Erb contributed to this report. Contact Eric D. Lawrence: [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence

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